Environmental Inequality on the Cape Flats Deepens

GOOD Statement by Siyabulela Mamkeli, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:

The City of Cape Town’s decision to procure a new fleet of diesel buses, using more polluting Euro V diesel, for the upcoming Metro South East Corridor (MSEC) raises serious environmental justice concerns for communities already burdened by poor air quality.

According to the City’s own Urban Mobility Portfolio Committee report (6 November 2025), Euro VI buses cannot be supported because the cleaner 10 PPM diesel is only available in Gauteng and transporting it would “significantly increase operational costs.” As a result, the City now intends to deploy Euro V diesel buses that use 50 PPM diesel, a more polluting fuel.

Diesel Buses for the Cape Flats, Electric Buses for Affluent Areas

What is deeply troubling is that these diesel buses will be concentrated in the Metro South East Corridor, serving predominantly Black and Coloured communities across the Cape Flats, areas that already suffer from some of the worst air pollution in Cape Town due to decades of apartheid spatial planning, industrial zoning, and proximity to major transport routes.

Meanwhile, the City’s Battery Electric Bus (BEB) fleet is being prioritised for routes serving affluent, wealthier suburbs, leaving working-class communities to absorb the environmental and health consequences of dirtier diesel emissions.

This approach reinforces existing inequality:

• Clean public transport for wealthy areas,
• Higher-polluting diesel for communities that have been historically marginalised and environmentally overburdened.

Air Quality in the Cape Flats Is Already Compromised*

Scientific studies and monitoring data consistently show that the Cape Flats experiences higher levels of particulate matter (PM2.5/PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) than many affluent suburbs. These pollutants are strongly linked to asthma, heart disease, and childhood respiratory illness.

Introducing hundreds of additional diesel buses into these communities, when cleaner alternatives exist, knowingly worsens their already compromised air quality.

Environmental Justice Must Be Central to Public Transport Planning

It is unacceptable that cost-saving motives are being prioritised over the health of residents in the Cape Flats. Public transport investments must advance, not undermine, the constitutional right to a healthy environment.

If electric buses can be deployed in wealthier areas, then the same level of clean, modern, and climate-responsible investment must be extended to the communities of the Cape Flats, who have historically carried an unfair share of environmental harm.

Call to Action

We call on the City to:

1. Reverse its decision to procure lower-standard Euro V diesel buses for the MSEC;
2. Prioritise electric buses for high-pollution, vulnerable communities;
3. Ensure procurement decisions reflect environmental justice, not deepen spatial inequality;
4. Engage affected communities, health experts, and environmental justice organisations before finalising fleet deployment.

Cape Flats communities deserve the same clean, modern public transport that wealthier suburbs will enjoy. Anything less continues the environmental injustice born from apartheid spatial planning.

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